Battle of Senigallia

The Battle of Sinigaglia/Senigallia was the final battle of the war between the French Republic and the Papal States, occurring in early July 1797. French general Louis Gabriel Suchet attempted to stop the Pope's advance into northern Italy by capturing Ancona from the Papal garrison, but Colonel Valantino Acerbi defeated the French.

Background
Pope Pius VI of the Papal States formed a Holy League against France in early 1797, and due to his harassment of the French in the north, France decided to threaten the Vatican by capturing Ancona and driving into central Italy. French general Louis Gabriel Suchet was dispatched to capture Ancona by the commander of the Army of Italy, led by General Napoleon Bonaparte. The French marched on the city, but they found out that the size of the garrison was huge, and their siege attempt failed. They broke off the siege after encircling the city for only a small while. Suchet retreated from the Marche region, but he was later intercepted by Valantino Acerbi's army of 8,400 Papal troops, with 9,000 poorly-trained French militia and National Guard troops facing them.

Battle
The French army was initially given the advantage due to superior generalship and numbers. However, the Papal States had cannon and line infantry, and they fought the French until the French lost most of their number. Suchet was wounded in the battle and he returned home, and most of the French were killed or captured. Those that were not were able to flee, while almost 3,000 Papal troops died.